Tonks

'Shit, shit, shit' she mumbles, throwing herself behind Remus. Had he seen her? To her greatest unfortune and displeasure she had been wearing her blue hair which happened to be his favourite. He would surely recognise her. It had often occurred to her that almost every single transformation of hers had been some guy's fantasy. She hadn't had the displeasure of running into them afterwards though. Not that there had been many, a high school boyfriend, one of her Muggle neighbours and Josh, who had been a brief office romance. She had just been lonely and she suspected that he had been too. They hadn't even officialised it yet when she broke it off for the Order and he had actually thrown a fit. Either he had actually fallen in love with her or she missed her sexy transformations. Who's to say? It was probably the latter.

'Really Tonks? This is what we've come to?'

She groans and comes forth, meeting his gaze. She can see he's still very much annoyed, but she needs to distract him from the fact that they're at King's Cross on the first of September, that would bring upon many more questions that she cannot answer. He just has to be a Ministry worker too; she thinks with a sigh. They can absolutely never find out that she has connections to Hogwarts.

'I'm sorry, Josh!' she crawls out from behind Remus who is clearly quite confused, but she can't meet his eyes right now. 'I'm just embarrassed, I don't look my best today….'

Unsurprisingly, it works. His face lights up. 'Oh, I'm sure you can make those cheeks a bit rosier and you'll look just great!'

She pushes down the pit of rage that gnaws at her and smiles pleasantly. He cannot find out that they've been escorting Harry. Fuck, she thinks. Remus. If she plays it cool, she might convince him that she was never here nor was she with Remus. He'd be safe from Ministry scrutiny. She wants to bang her head against a wall. They cannot put Remus on a surveillance list because she had been an idiot when choosing boyfriends.

'I'm actually really glad to have bumped into you,' she moves away from Remus, praying he understands what she's doing. 'I feel really bad about how we ended things. Do you think we could talk for a bit?'

He smiles as on cue. 'You mean how you ended things?'

Parents are starting to file out from the station, she needs to get him away. She rushes by his side and pulls him by the arm, facing away from the station. She's fairly certain he's forgotten about Remus by now. Oh Lord, Remus. If he doesn't get what she's doing now, he's going to hate her.

'I guess we could grab some coffee…' he smirks. It's worked, she should feel happy. And she does. Her eyes long to find Remus. To tell him to get away. That it's not safe for him here right now. That she's play the game for her creepy ex as long as necessary and that she's sorry.

'Great!' she jumps up and takes his arm, leading him away. Her heart starts sinking. How far will this go? Will she have to sleep with him? After she reject him will he remember where he found her? All she needs is to get him somewhere secluded and she can easily obliviate him.

'I liked your smaller figure better,' he remarks coyly.

She smiles and pulls him into an alleyway. It turned out to be quite easy actually.

She burst in through the door. There's some semblance of conversation going on in the background, but she doesn't register anything more than a dull humming.

He's in the corner sipping his coffee. He seems to be vaguely listening, but not engaging. His kaw muscles are pulsing, he's angry. She rushes towards him and throws her arms around him. He staggers surprised, but after a few seconds wraps his arms around her. She feels dirty after having touched Josh, this feels like a welcoming comfort.

'I'm so sorry, Remus, I was distracting him, I didn't-' she mumbles while he lets go. He look her in the eye with a soft, yet strained smile.

'Sorry for what?' his tone is forces as if he's doing his best to keep calm. 'Of course you needed to distract him, he couldn't have seen us at King's Cross.'

'He works with me at the Ministry, if he had seen you-' she gesticulates wildly. She needs him to understand she's not ashamed of him, she know that it's exactly what he's thinking.

'Of course. Maybe a bad idea to go out in such a busy place in the first place-'

He's emotionally devastated, she can tell, it makes her want to curl up and sob just looking at him. 'I feel really bad about leaving you like that-'

'Tonks, stop, it really is all in order!'

He moves to leave but she grabs his hand.

'I need you to know I'd always choose hanging out with you in a heartbeat and you're ten times the man he'll ever be.'

He finally gives her a real, albeit very flustered smile.

'It was just…' he pauses, looking for words. 'Quite upsetting seeing you put yourself down like that.'

'Yeah, it's well established I have terrible taste in men.'

'And yet you remain a romantic'.

'And yet I remain a romantic.'

Somewhere in the distance Bill drops a plate and Molly yells. Neither of them register the commotion.

'He always liked my hair blue,' she mentions off hand. 'What do you think? I don't want to keep it because of him but nor do I want to change it just because of him…'

'I think you look beautiful either way,' he replies with no hestation, eyes locked upon hers.

She blinks in confusion. Everyone has a preference. His gaze is secure, she has never seen him so convinced about anything.

'Really?' she asks timidly. She's never timid, but her blood is pumping fast. She feels dizzy and she finds herself wishing she'd stagger so that he can catch her.

'Yes. Really.' His face seems to be getting closer and she cannot stop looking at his lips. She wants him to kiss her, she realizes. Hands all clammy, her mind still reeling from the realisation, Snape bursts in.

Remus

'Oh great, our favourite kill-joy!' Sirius erupts and everyone turns to look at him. Remus does his best to warn him to shut up, but he doesn't get the visual clues and just continues to snigger. 'Sup, Snivellius, don't you have eleven-year-olds you need to take your sexual frustrations out on?'

'Sirius!' he growls, but notices Tonks winking at him. He's not the only one who notices it. Snape glares at her with a loathing he didn't think was possible.

'Very mature of you, Black! Need I remind you only one of us is a free man? And as for you, Nymphadora, I expected more from Moody's protegee, but I suppose we all learn our way around-'

'Excuse me?' Tonks's face suddenly turns bright red and her jaw is jumping. 'Say that again!'

Everyone has turned to shoot daggers at Snape, but Remus's head is spinning and he takes a step forward.

'I think you owe her an apology, Severus!' he says, keeping his eyes on him. He's always defended him; he's always tried to bring peace upon them. But there was no way he was going to let him talk like that. Especially not to her. Snape does nothing but grin maliciously, content at having struck a chord.

'I'll apologize when he does!' he shoots a glace towards Sirius.

'Yeah, in your dreams, old man, now apologise to her or you're going to regret it!'

He wants to tell Sirius to shut up. He wants everyone to apologize and be on their merry way. He wants this whole stupid conflict to stop, this whole stupid conflict that has brought about only pain. Despite everything Snape has done, he has always understood him, always forgiven him, always told Sirius to shut up. But this time he doesn't. This time it's not about Sirius or him. It's about Tonks. And he's seen her trembling lip, he's understood this is not the first time that someone has said something like this to her. He remembers how during their first mission she confessed her insecurities about only being chosen for her shapeshifting skills. He remembers how only earlier she had had to sexualise and demean herself in order to not compromise himself.

Sirius and Tonks have both taken out their wands. He should stop them.

'Let's can this, all of you!' Molly Weasley suddenly snaps. 'Sirius, stop antagonizing him. Tonks, stop enabling him. And Severus, apologize!'

The distain he has for the Weasleys reeks and Remus finds himself taking another step towards her.

'Great, now everyone's jumping on this train. We can't criticize anyone anymore!'

'Severus, that was vile and you know it,' Remus's voice is trembling. 'Your issue isn't with her, it's with us.'

'Nah, it's with everyone who's enabling this sorry excuse of a man!' Snape hisses. 'I came here to inform you of new Hogwarts developments but you're all too preoccupied with petty remarks to care about-'

'Petty remarks?' Tonks raises her wand higher. 'You disgusting little man, you-'

'Please Nymphadora, stop with the dramatics' he rolls his eyes, 'the adults have important business to get to and-'

He doesn't get to finish his sentence. He topples over from Remus's punch and a deathly silence fills the room. He can feel everyone's eyes on him, but he doesn't care, he's looking at Snape slowly gathering himself from the floor, not quite believing what has just happened. Remus has a lot of things he'd like to yell at him, but he decides he's punished him enough for now. He gestures towards the table.

'Shall we?'

Tonks

After what must have been the most awkward meeting of all time, she slowly approaches Remus, who is acting like nothing has happened. Sirius has left the room, still sullen about Harry leaving for Hogwarts and probably feeling both bad for having started the shitshow and happy for seeing Snape humbled.

'Um, Remus?' she asks tentatively.

'I'm sorry, that was very stupid of me,' he grumbles, not meeting her eyes, focusing on gathering up his robes. 'Pre-full moon stress got to me. I'm not normally like that,'.

'Yeah, I know, I'm sorry I-' she's flustered. The calmest man she's ever met had just lost his shit and it was over her. She feels stupid for having played into her cousin's bullshit in the first place.

He does a double take and looks at her with a strange expression on his face. 'Sorry? What for?'

'Well, I started it…' She should not have antagonised him. She just really hates everything she's learnt about that man. She hates how he looks down upon all of them, she hates his disgust for her cousin, and most of all she hates how Remus lets him off the hook every time. Well, every time until now…

'Actually, Sirius started it because he misses Harry and he's incapable of dealing with that.'

'Still, I shouldn't have-'

'No, you shouldn't.' he snaps at her. 'But no one gets to talk to you like that!'

He's still angry, and she cannot tell if at her or for her. 'I know you can handle yourself; I shouldn't have intervened, I'll go apologise and if you want to hex him later on, he's all yours.'

She watches him leave and she doesn't quite know what to make of it all. By now it's just her and Bill in the kitchen. She raises an eyebrow at him.

'What was that all about?'

Bill lets out a chuckle. 'Oh, come on….'

'What?' she asks in frustration. She hates when Bill does this, pretend like you have to guess whatever he's figured out. They're too old for this.

'Of course you don't see it. You've got him whipped!'

'What?' she yells, then catches herself. 'What?' she repeats in a normal tone.

'The calmest man we've ever know just lost it over you being insulted. What do you think that was all about?'

Remus

'What was that all about, Mooney?'

Sirius seems to have regained his humour by the time he gets back after a very difficult conversation with Snape in which he had to demean himself. He doesn't mind though. He's never going to demean her again and that's enough.

'Oh, you mean the part where you started up shit because you can't deal with your emotions about Harry leaving?' he snaps, throwing off his robes and throwing himself into bed. He's been on back-to-back missions and the full moon is approaching. He hasn't slept in so long and he is still so angry.

'Like you would know,' Sirius's voice is strained and full of hurt. He knows he should feel bad but he can't. He's been acting stupid and he knows it. 'Harry still calls you Professor. Professor my ass, he barely knows you because you barely talk because you're still terrified of letting anyone in.'

'Yeah, last time I let someone in they fucked off to Azkaban!'

'Right…. cause that was my fault'.

'It was a stupid idea to make Peter the secret keeper. And you thought I was the spy!''

'You thought I was the spy!'

'So maybe my idea of not letting people in is not so stupid after all!'

'You're impossible, Remus!' Sirius's voice has gotten several octaves higher, but he's not engaging anymore. His head is pounding and he curls up in a foetal position. He doesn't know why this day has upset him so. Everything regarding Tonks has upset him, even though he knows it shouldn't. It shouldn't bother him that she distracted that ex-boyfriend of hers. In fact, he should thank his lucky stars that it worked, otherwise he'd end up on Umbridge's watch list. And he certainly shouldn't have punched Snape, he's happy at least they agreed to keep it between them, out of mutual embarrassment.

'You're really not going to say anything?' he hears Sirius ask in a lower voice.

'What do you want me to say, man?' he sighs. He's so tired.

'That he had it coming? That you hate how he talks to us? That you hate how he talked to her?'

'Of course I hate how he talked to her! I also hate how I acted like the animal he thinks I am!'

'You didn't act like an animal, Remus,' Sirius sighs, 'you just stood up for her. You did the gentleman thing!'

'Yeah, right, I bet you she's real disgusted right about now!'

'I can guarantee you she's not! And frankly I think all this would be much easier if you just admitted you like her!'

Remus wants to deny it. He really does.

'Night, Padfoot!'